Yik Yak, an anonymous messaging app for college students, was shut down in 2017. Now, it is back, but many people are still looking for apps like Yik Yak. That’s because only iOS users can download and use this app at this moment.

What Happened to Yik Yak

First of all, let me explain what happened to Yik Yak shortly.

Launched in 2013, Yik Yak at first grew rapidly as high school students and college students latched onto the anonymous messaging app. However, Yik Yak earned attention, and school-wide bans, from college campus officials when it was used to make threats and became a hotbed for abuse and harassment.

On April 16th, 2017, Yik Yak co-founders Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington published a farewell note to users on the blog.

After a four-year break, Yik Yak returned to the iOS App Store on August 16, 2021 (sorry, Android users) under new ownership.

7 Apps Like Yik Yak

If you’ve been an avid user of Yik Yak and want to find Yik Yak replacements, here are 7 apps like Yik Yak you can take a try. All of the apps in the list can be downloaded via Google Play or App Store.

1.  Spout – Anonymous Chat Feed

Many users from Yik Yak would agree that Spout is the closest app to Yik Yak.

Spout is an anonymous location-based chat app that allows you to express yourself and connect with others around you for free. In this app, you can share anything that’s on your mind, ask about yourself, ask advice, question, and see what others are saying. It also allows you to chat with people nearby or around the world, whether you are at home, school, work, or traveling.

However, though this app is still available on App Store and Google Play, there is no update since December, 2017.

2. Whisper – Share, Express, Meet

Today, Whisper is one of the most downloaded apps like Yik Yak which has boasted over 300 million monthly active users worldwide. 

Whisper has an amazing concept – share whatever you want to say to the world anonymously. It does have features like making anonymous posts, and commenting on other people’s postings. However, different from Yik Yak, it’s not hyper-localized and has a relatively different user-case as you wouldn’t interact exclusively with people in your school or college. Though the majority of users being college students, the app actually consists of people from many age groups.

Whisper also supports groups, so you can create groups for your university, and have a more Yik Yak like experience. Better yet, you can create video Whispers to better express yourself.

Please note that, an investigation by The Washington Post has revealed that Whisper left the information of nearly 900 million users exposed to anyone that wanted to view it, located in a database that wasn’t password protected and was accessible by the public. 

3.  Jodel – Local Student Community

Probably the closest to Yik Yak in functionality and features, Jodel instantly connects you to your student community. It’s a live social media feed, bursting with student news, questions, events, confessionals and jokes. With Jodel, you can:

– Discover in real-time what’s happening in your town

– Chat with other Jodelers nearby, post messages and photos to everyone around you

– Make new friends and connect with people around you who share your interests

– Get access to student discounts, great offers and know where to find the best burger

– Confess your secret love affair with chicken nuggets

Different from other Yik Yak replacements in the list, Jodel support many languages which include Arabic, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish.

4.  ASKfm – Ask Anonymous Questions

ASKfm is the anonymous question board app that helps you to learn more about your friends, classmates, and people around. With the app, you can ask questions anonymously or openly to any friend, classmate, or even a stranger. Also, you can follow users with the same interests as you, and then answer the questions they ask you to gain more followers yourself.

5. Nearby – Chat, Meet, Friend

Nearby is the opposite of Whisper – it focuses on hyper-localization instead of anonymity. This is a location-based social network app where you could meet new friends near you.

Nearby explicitly declares that its goal is not dating, but rather finding new friends. Need a tennis partner? Want to find a running buddy? In a foreign country and want to find a speaker of your native tongue? Then this app is for you.

6. After School – Funny Anonymous School News

After School is an anonymous and private message board for your school. The app starts off by asking users to pick their school, and the class year. You will then have to log in with Facebook in order to verify that you are, in fact, going to the school you chose in the app. Users can choose whether they would like to reveal their name or remain anonymous. Here, you can post confessions, funny experiences, compliments, feelings, and more!

7.  Vent – Express your feelings

The last app similar to Yik Yak in the list is Vent.

Vent is a social diary platform where you can express how you REALLY feel. With Vent, you can,

– Express your true self with a broad range of emotions and colors in the app!

– Make friends and chat privately in real-time without sharing personal contact information

– Join Groups to connect with other people that share similar interests and experiences

The vent has millions of users around the world who are just waiting to hear what you have to say. Give it a shot!

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are a number of apps like Yik Yak, each of which offers its own unique take on how to anonymously communicate with strangers and those around you. Better yet, most of them pay attention on how to protect you from abuse and harassment. However, I would still hope you can protect your personal information and keep yourself safe when using these apps.

In the comments below, please tell us which is your favorite app as an alternative to Yik Yak.